Orange Is The New Black’s Taystee Has Some Tips For Your Ruined Skin

Unless you’ve been living under a rock or “taking a break from technology” because you’re actually the worst person on earth (you aren’t better than me), you recently binge-watched Orange is the New Black. Who’s your favorite character? Obviously it’s Taystee. Well, maybe Poussey. But it’s probably Taystee.

“On Orange is the New Black, I have hardly any makeup on. It’s very minimal, which was hard to get used to at first. I was like, ‘Please, I just want my eyebrows arched! Please!’ But they weren’t having it. As an actor, it’s great because I want to stay true to the script and my character [Taystee Jefferson], and the reality that we are trying to create. But as Danielle… [Laughs] You know, I wish I could be all made up. But honestly I enjoy staying true to Taystee—they want to stay authentic to the story, and I totally understand that. So on the show, I wear very little makeup: very light cover-up, a tiny bit of mascara, Chapstick, and that’s about it.”

While Brooks grins and bears it through unflattering makeup, she says she gets to have some fun with her hair on the show, which occasionally serves as a plot point.

Brooks said that filming the first season of OITNB wreaked havoc on her skin, because it was hard for her to keep up with her maintenance routine. Her pro tip for skin maintenance? See a dermatologist instead of flailing, helplessly, through an onslaught of different products. She credits her dermatologist with getting her skin back on track, saying “[h]e told me exactly what to do every morning and every night to keep it healthy. I was lost before.”

And now, let’s take a brief sojourn into the wonderful, beautiful world of Taystee.

I’m renowned for spilling food all over myself, so this is very relatable to me. When I sent it to Ashley over at Gurl, she responded with “this is your life.”